


Together

by ItFeelsLikeHome



Series: ONS Reveal Week [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 09:18:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItFeelsLikeHome/pseuds/ItFeelsLikeHome
Summary: Set after the ONS reveal.Robert and Aaron have been sat on the floor for hours with Robert clinging onto Aaron's arm.  It's getting late and they really should be going to bed.Told from both point of views.





	Together

They had been sat there on the floor for several hours. The silence could have been suffocating and stifling. But after the promises and reaffirmed vows of love and fidelity they had spoken, they were both spent. Robert’s arm was still curled around Aaron’s; his head still perched on his husband’s shoulder. He was scared to let go incase Aaron changed his mind. 

Gripping on tight like a child clinging onto their beloved toy, he knew that if Aaron couldn’t cope with his betrayal that Robert’s world would end. But he couldn’t focus on that. He had to focus on the fact that Aaron wanted to trust him and try again. 

He concentrated on the sound of Aaron’s breathing, the in and out motions that were as relaxing as listening to the ebb and flow of the tide. It was constant just like he hoped that Aaron would be a constant loving force in his life, a constant source of love and pleasure for Robert.

Feeling the unwavering beat of Aaron’s heart, Robert was hopeful that they would get through this together. Its steady pulsing reflected how steady Aaron had been in his love and willing to work through their problems. A metronome that would be used to keep the tempo and rhythm for their relationship to come. Whatever dance Aaron wanted, he would follow. Wherever Aaron went, he would go knowing full well that Aaron could have ended it and walked away. But he didn’t. 

‘Robert?’ the question was whispered.

‘Yeah?’

‘I think we should go to sleep.’ Aaron had got his mobile out of his pocket and the light from it had cast a blue hue over his face. ‘It’s half one in the morning.’

Robert couldn’t mask his disappointment, even if he hadn’t expected to sleep there on the floor that night. He just wasn’t willing to let go. 

He didn’t want to be so bold as to assume where he was sleeping, so he waited behind to put the beer bottles away in the recycling bin, to close the curtains and even go so far as to clean the work surfaces down - even though no food had been prepared on them and they were spotless. 

‘Robert, what are you doing?’ Aaron asked at the foot of the stairs. 

‘I’m just tidying up.’

‘It’s half one. Come to bed.’

He followed Aaron up to their bedroom, trying to avoid looking at Aaron’s naked body as he got undressed. He aimed his concentration on dressing for bed and then went into their en-suite to busy himself with brushing his teeth, flossing, washing his face and moisturising. 

Normally he wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off Aaron, after all his husband was his favourite pastime, but he’d lost that privilege over Aaron’s body the moment he had slept with Rebecca. And if he ended up pushing for some form of affection, he could end up pushing himself out of the door and out of Aaron’s life for good. 

When there was nothing else left to do in the en-suite, he dawdled back into their bedroom to see the bed occupied. 

Head bowed and shoulders hunched, Robert walked over to the bed. ‘I can sleep in Liv’s room, if you want,’ he whispered it and hated how it sounded. Tears stung at his eyes again.

Aaron sat up, lips parted in shock, showing off his delicious torso that Robert refused to look at. ‘Why?’

‘You might not want me in here tonight, and that’s fine.’

___________________________________________________________________________________

If Aaron had been puzzled about where Robert’s head was at, he only needed to look at him now to be sure. He had never seen his husband so broken. Gone was the charm and smarm. Instead as Robert suggested sleeping in Liv’s room, he seemed defeated and less sure of himself but that was how he had been all night since the confession. The confident light in Robert’s eyes had been extinguished. And that made it easier for Aaron to know that Rebecca meant nothing, that it hadn’t been about wanting her. It had been about hurting Aaron. A sort of self-preservation. Or a form of self-harming. What was it Robert had said? He turned on other people - people who matter. 

‘No. You don’t need to go.’

‘Are you sure?’ 

‘Yeah.’

Robert got into their bed and Aaron awaited his husband’s cold feet seeking out his warmth, but instead Robert just laid there looking at him blinking back tears. Gingerly, he put one hand on Aaron’s cheek stroking at the facial hair and skin underneath. 

Moving forward towards Robert, Aaron wrapped his arms around his waist and stroked his back. He held Robert, letting him know that he was there for him, until Robert’s arms moved up to his waist and then they held each other. Eyes, full of love and mutual understanding, locked.

Despite what Robert had done, Aaron felt a torrent of love for him. He knew he could see his own love for Robert reflected in his husband’s eyes. The gaze was unwavering, but he could guess what Robert was doing because he was sure he was doing the same thing. He savoured the moment, really drank in Robert’s handsome features relishing the feel of Robert next to him. 

He let out a mammoth sigh of relief that he hadn’t realised he’d been trying to suppress. Clasping onto Robert, not wanting to lose him, he only hoped that he could get past this and forgive him. They had been through so much together for them to give up. 

Brushing his lips against Robert’s, he waited for his husband to respond. It was tender and delicate: a kiss full of love and so much promise. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

Robert was surprised at the affection that Aaron was bestowing upon him. He didn’t deserve any of it, not after doing the worst possible thing, but he was only a man after all and he responded with equal tenderness and love. The kiss penetrated his heart but also illuminated it so much he was sure Aaron could see it lighting up the whole room - just like Aaron lit up the whole of his life.

Normally, they were filled with so much passion that it carried them off on a headlong whirlwind of euphoria and fervour. But today, every kiss was marked. Every brush of skin was marvelled. The kisses could have been rushed and teeth could have been clashed as they clawed at each other’s backs. But that was for a different time and place. 

It wasn’t the sex of their affair days where it had to be quick and the thrill of getting caught, at first, added to the high. It wasn’t even like the days just before Aaron went inside where it was rushed and hurried because they needed to have each other countless times to savour it when Aaron would be gone. 

Aaron didn’t pull at Robert’s shorts, but he did fit his finger behind the ribbed band hoping that Robert would pick up on the hint. Their clothes were peeled off with delicate fingers and each new area of skin revealed was caressed and grazed with lips full of reverence. 

It was slow and languorous, but it was what they needed because it was filled with so much vulnerability and devotion on both sides. And there was that unwavering gaze, that eye-contact, and in that space and time Robert realised he was home. Because deep down, in Aaron’s eyes he could see all of his future in those blue spheres: their legal wedding; big milestone birthdays; their own child from a surrogacy and even their retirement years. And just before they reached their peaks, he caught the look of love and adoration in Aaron’s eyes, and he knew that they would get through it. 

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback and comments would be greatly appreciated. :-)


End file.
